A simple, but oh-so-difficult question today…
What were the greatest adventuring / expedition accomplishments of the past year?
I’md like to help spread the word about impressive achievements. They can be epic – this ascent of K7 West, for example. Or they can be little microadventures documented with great enthusiasm.
So the boundaries are loose. I’mm just looking for adventures that inspired and impressed you. Jot them down in the comments section below, with a link if possible, and we’ll do our little bit to ensure those who really pushed the boundaries get some of the recognition they deserve.
If you’d prefer to post your thoughts on Twitter, please use the hashtag #adventure2012 so that I can collate all the suggestions over the weekend.
I feel a debate about the definition of ‘adventure’ coming on… 😉
To add something constructive, though, I’d like to nominate Emily Chappell. Lots of people have cycled from England to Japan. But none of them have won Travel Blogger Of The Year, set up a female bicycle-travel advocacy & support group, and inspired countless others to hit the road whilst doing so…
+1 for Emily Chappell. She did inspire me to get on my 6-months trip last summer. Plus, I emailed her a couple of times to ask for advice while she was on the road and she always answered very kindly, and even dropped me an email once just to ask for news about my trip!
I’m quite biaised towards female cyclists so I would also nominate Sarah Outen. In the hardest parts of my trip (such as crossing the Alps under constant rain and fog) I thought about her quote “it’s an expedition, not holidays!”
3 men and 1 woman travel in a small open boat to the world’s most-northern and isolated communities in Greenland – http://www.avannaa.org/
The men over at the Republic od Doom pulled off one of the most creative and difficult self-supported adventures of 2012. As a tribute to the late great Charlie Fowler, Dr. Doom and his compadres spent two weeks riding, floating and climbing tower in the Utah desert as tribute to the late great Charlie Fowler. Low budget, low commercialism high commitment and hard a hell; these fellows get my vote for 2012!
http://therepublicofdoom.blogspot.com/2012/06/charlie-fowler-tower-touran-overview.html?m=0
Summer 2012: Sandy Allan, Rick Allen and Cathy O’Dowd attempted the 1st ascent of Nanga Parbat via the Mazeno Ridge. The longest ridge on any 8000m peak, considered “the ultimate endurance challenge.†One of the most coveted goals left in the Himalaya.
Hidden by the noise of the Olympics Sandy and Rick completed the greatest feat of British MOuntaineering in the last 25 years.
http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/news.php?id=5071
My nomination has to be Stuart Block for his epic ‘Beyond the Bike’ journey on his tandem bicycle from Johannesburg back to London!
A year of cycling through 19 countries, covering over 15,000km and with more than 150 stokers along the way. http://beyondthebike.org/
Stuart’s main blog of his journey shared his experiences and challenges plus his second blog ‘The Economic Cycle’ gave great insight in to the role of education and economic development. http://beyondthebike.org/index.php?option=com_easyblog&view=blogger&layout=listings&id=69&Itemid=31
And this little adventure happened to raise £115,000 for a few charities too…
Gets my vote!
The stand-out adventurers of 2012 for me are Grant and Shawna Korgan. Inspiring, moving, totally committed and deserving of a wider audience.